Posted by Registration is now open for a free Adirondack Forum on Invasive Species. The Forum, a one-and-a-half day event, will be held August 10-11 at Paul Smith's College. You will learn how you and your community can be prepared for harmful invasive species invading Adirondack lands and waters.
Partners of the Adirondack Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management have organized the Forum to give citizens, community groups, members of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, resource managers, and elected officials from across the region an opportunity to discuss invasive species. The Forum will highlight initiatives underway in the region; showcase local successes and challenges as told by community members; feature up-to-date information about new invasive species; and identify important next steps that groups must collectively take to have a real and lasting impact on this challenging environmental and economic issue.
The Forum's theme centers on the need to consider all types of invasive species – plants and animals in both aquatic and terrestrial settings – and on ways in which communities can be prepared to address them. Invasive species are a top threat to lands and waters, to favorite outdoor pastimes and cherished traditions, and to forestry, fisheries, and agriculture upon which local economies rely. Some species, like purple loosestrife, have been in New York for hundreds of years, but others, like emerald ash borer, arrived only recently. The explosion in the expansion of species and the rate of new arrivals is alarming and cause for concern.
Each year a greater number of communities are faced with tough decisions about invasive species. In response, groups in the Adirondack region banded together over a decade ago to take aim at this pressing problem. They work together to halt the invasion by focusing on prevention and management. A great deal has been accomplished, but much more has yet to be done.
The Forum is free, and participants may register for all or part of the event. Information about registration, lodging and meals and a draft program are available online at http://adkinvasives.com/Forum.html. The deadline to register is July 28. For more information, contact Hilary Smith at the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program,
518-576-2082 or hsmith@tnc.org.
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